‘Tis the season

Well, it’s that time of year again. It’s when my subliminal homesickness gets stronger and I have a longing to go home. Last year I actually did spend Christmas and New Year’s at home — for the first time in over 20 years. It was wonderful! I can’t believe it’s December again already.

This year I have a job, so that will keep me occupied. It was worse when I had lots of free time to yearn for the happiness of family and home. That just occurred to me yesterday, as I felt an oncoming wave of sentimentality.

The kids are getting older, so the excitement is fading as well. But yesterday brought an unexpected delight. My son asked if we could bake some Christmas cookies. Here it is the custom to bake lots of cookies ahead of time, then when people come visit over the holidays, you set out a tray of cookies. I am not exactly an enthusiastic, perfectionistic cookie maker, so I just make a few. Some housewives here make 15 to 20 different kinds and they look incredible! I don’t have the time or patience. So, that is the background information on cookies here.

I was glad that my son asked, because I didn’t feel like doing it alone. He is 14 years old. It turned out to be a lot of fun, working together, joking and goofing around. He has a similarly wacky sense of humor, so we enjoy each other’s company very much. He said things like: “Can I take a break now?” five minutes into getting the dough ready. Or he handed me the mixer and said: “Could you hold this? I’ll be right back … in 20 minutes.” Silly things, half reminiscent of a small child — like getting bored with working on one dough and suggesting we leave that and start another, yet the awareness of what he was saying. He was demonstrating how he’s grown up by mimicking a child.

It’s hard to explain, but it was nice to have that time together and laugh. The older he gets, the less we do together. Thus, these unexpected moments are quite a treat! Afterwards we played cards, which we hadn’t done for a while either. What a difference when we have some quiet time together, and get a break from our hectic schedule.

It’s a bit of a perfect housewife phenomenon, I believe. You know, slight underlying competition. I don’t know. I think it’s nice to have a little something, but I tend to be a grump around the holidays. I can’t see the point of splurging on so much stuff — food, decorations, presents — and then creating more garbage as well, while a billion people are starving. What a world we live in!